Hotel industry fighting for
survival amid pandemic
Posted By: AltaD, 1/14/2021 11:33:41 PM
Chicago - As 2021 begins, the hotel business is fighting for survival. The Saint Jane, Moxy, Sheraton Grand, Chicago Athletic Club and even the famous Palmer House are just a fraction of local hotels closed right now. "You see a lot of hotels, especially in the downtown area, that are suspended right now. I think it gives you a sense of what the permanent damage could be," said Michael Jacobson, President and CEO of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging (Snip) At the same time, hotels continue paying property taxes even if they’re closed. Some downtown spots cough up more than $30,000 a day, $11 or $12 million a year.
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Police Supt. David Brown Says There Have Been
144 Carjackings In Chicago Since Beginning Of
January 1 reply
144 Carjackings In Chicago Since Beginning Of
January 1 reply
Police Supt. David Brown said Thursday there had been 144 vehicular hijackings in Chicago since the beginning of January – placing the city on track to record 2,000 carjackings this year if the trend continues.
Brown said police have arrested 104 offenders.(Snip)“I don’t want to drive after dark. I don’t want to drive during the day,” said David’s wife, Tina Ariola. “I mean, these people are getting ripped out of their cars during the day. It’s indiscriminate.”
The Ariolas said their experience has not only made them question if they want to stay in Chicago, but what city leadership is doing to prevent repeat offenders from terrorizing residents again and again.
On Wednesday, a boy who had allegedly been solicited and recruited for sex trafficking as a minor then, after escaping, reportedly had to endure child sexual abuse material depicting him promoted on Twitter, sued Twitter.
The lawsuit asserts, “This lawsuit seeks to shine a light on how Twitter has enabled and profited from CSAM (child sexual abuse material) on its platform, choosing profits over people, money over the safety of children, and wealth at the expense of human freedom and human dignity.”
“Twitter is not a passive, inactive, intermediary in the distribution of this harmful material; rather, Twitter has adopted an active role in the dissemination and knowing promotion and distribution
President Joe Biden issued an executive order on his first day in office, mandating that any schools that receive federal funding must function as if biological males who claim to be females are the same, and vice versa, or risk losing that funding. This pro-transgender policy extends to male athletes who claim their gender identity as a female should allow them to compete on women’s teams, receive women’s scholarships, and be admitted in women’s locker rooms.(Snip) His new executive order also mandates that every agency must act to ensure the enforcement of this new rule within 100 days of Jan. 20.
Step aside, California. Minnesota, hang your head. Illinois is the wokest of all, and what it does will spread.(Snip) The proposed Illinois standards on Culturally Responsive Teaching and Leading have kicked up opposition from conservative and religious groups in state, who hold that the rule mandates political indoctrination and violates teachers’ constitutional rights. Every teacher certified by Illinois will have to be trained and assessed in accordance with the new standards. Attorneys for the Thomas More Society, which is working with the Pro-Family Alliance, calls the proposed standards unconstitutional and discriminatory on the grounds that they compel speech and violate the free exercise of religion and conscience.
Vice President Mike Pence is reportedly not expected to attend President Donald Trump’s military sendoff at Andrews Air Force Base on Tuesday, but he will attend President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, a source familiar with Pence’s plans told the Daily Caller.
The White House declined to comment on Pence’s travel plans. Pence choosing to attend Biden’s inauguration instead of the president’s farewell would be the culmination of the growing rift between the pair. (Snip) He is attending the inauguration later in the day, and aides say it would be logistically challenging for the vice president to do both,”
Man caught living in O'Hare for
months, prosecutors say he was afraid
to fly home due to COVID-19 11 replies
months, prosecutors say he was afraid
to fly home due to COVID-19 11 replies
CHICAGO (WLS) -- A 36-year-old allegedly lived inside O'Hare International Airport for three months before he was caught on Saturday.
Prosecutors said Aditya Singh was too afraid to fly back to Los Angeles due to COVID-19.
Cook County prosecutors said Singh was found with an airport worker's misplaced credentials and survived inside a secure area of O'Hare Airport.
Singh arrived at O'Hare's Terminal 2 on a flight from LA back on October 19th according to prosecutors, and has lived in the airport's security zone since then. "That is an egregious violation after over $100 billion has been spent on aviation security in this country in the last 20 years," said Michael Masters, CEO
The leaders of Cook County’s criminal justice system are planning on resuming jury trials in February, after months of courts being in a near-total shutdown because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The shutdown has deprived accused offenders of their right to a speedy trial and left victims waiting for justice. But the proposed reopening worries court employees who believe leaders are rushing the process and jeopardizing their health. (Snip) Sources say leaders are aiming to have the first jury selection happen on Feb. 16. And they say questionnaires were being sent out Friday to potential jurors asking about underlying health issues and other COVID-19 related concerns.
In Chicago, other cities,
more cops are calling it quits,
retiring amid anti-police backlash 30 replies
more cops are calling it quits,
retiring amid anti-police backlash 30 replies
The number of police officers retiring in Chicago and other cities has soared amid a chorus of anti-police rhetoric that’s become increasingly loud over the past year.
In Chicago, 560 officers retired in 2020 in a police department that had about 13,100 sworn officers as of March, records show. That’s about 15% more cops retiring than during the previous year, when the number of retirements rose by nearly 30%. (Snip) The upswing in cop retirements in Chicago already is hurting the police pension system, according to Lappe. About 1,100 more people are now getting pensions than the number who are paying into the fund in Chicago, he said.
Chicago - As 2021 begins, the hotel business is fighting for survival. The Saint Jane, Moxy, Sheraton Grand, Chicago Athletic Club and even the famous Palmer House are just a fraction of local hotels closed right now. "You see a lot of hotels, especially in the downtown area, that are suspended right now. I think it gives you a sense of what the permanent damage could be," said Michael Jacobson, President and CEO of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging (Snip) At the same time, hotels continue paying property taxes even if they’re closed. Some downtown spots cough up more than $30,000 a day, $11 or $12 million a year.
Belgian rioters attacked the king's car with the monarch inside in violent unrest in Brussels over the death of a black man in police custody who was arrested for breaking the country's strict coronavirus rules.
King Phillipe was travelling to the Palace of Laeken, his official residence, as protesters began to batter his BMW with projectiles. The vehicle quickly sped off guarded by the king's security detail.
More than 500 protesters, some of them holding Black Lives Matter signs, gathered in Belgium's capital on Wednesday following the death of the 23-year-old Ibrahima Barrie.
Barrie was arrested by police on Saturday in the city for breaking the
Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, stopped Trump from joining fringe social media platforms Parler and Gab after he was banned from Twitter, according to a report from CNN.
Kushner and deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino are said to have gone against other aides, such as personnel chief Johnny McEntee, to get Trump not to join other social media platforms, an outside adviser and an administration official told CNN. (Snip) Parler and Gab are platforms that have attracted some far-right users due to the companies’ lack of speech restrictions on their platforms.
Illinois lawmakers on Wednesday used the final hours of the general assembly’s lame duck session to pass a sweeping and controversial criminal justice reform bill that would eliminate cash bail, make it easier to ban officers from working at police departments across the state and allow for anonymous complaints against cops.
The legislation, passed Wednesday morning after hours of late night bargaining, was a legislative priority of the Black legislative caucus. (Snip) A coalition of Illinois police groups said the bill had been “rammed through” the legislature “in the dark of night.”
Nearly 20,000 people signed on as opponents to a previous version of the bill, compared to about 4,000 proponents.
Most Active Articles (last 48 hours)
As they witnessed President Joe Biden take the oath of office on Wednesday, House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn said former Republican President George W. Bush lauded him as a 'savior' for helping get Biden elected. The South Carolina Democrat is largely credited with giving Biden the endorsement he needed to shoot to the top of 2020´s large Democratic field and win his party's nomination.(Snip) He said Bush added that Biden was the only Democratic candidate he felt could have defeated President Donald Trump. Bush, who has largely stayed out of politics since leaving the White House, chose 'none of the above'
Mitch McConnell’s betrayal hurts the nation
65 replies
Et tu, Mitch McConnell?Just when Washington has a chance to turn the page, fresh signs emerged Tuesday that the past is not yet past. It is almost certain now that the Senate will hold an impeachment trial of President Trump next week.Even worse, it looks probable he will be convicted of a single charge stemming from the Capitol invasion. The history-making event got the green light from McConnell on his last day as Senate majority leader. Speaking on the Senate floor Tuesday, McConnell said of the Jan. 6 incident: “The mob was fed lies. They were provoked by the president and other powerful people
Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46th president of the United States and Kamala Harris was sworn in as the first Black, first Asian-American, and first woman to take the oath of vice president. And Michelle Obama came impeccably dressed for the momentous occasion. The former first lady Michelle Obama arrived at the Biden-Harris inauguration looking like an actual superhero in a magenta coat and matching pant suit. The hue from the purple family is a fashionable signal of bipartisanship. Obama's was one of many monochromatic looks in the fashionable crowd. Mrs. Obama's look was designed by Sergio Hudson
The first impression of President Joe Biden’s inauguration speech that Fox News viewers received on Wednesday was from anchor Chris Wallace, who uniformly praised it as “the best inaugural address” he has ever heard.
Following Biden’s powerful address in which he declared “democracy has prevailed” and called upon Americans to “end this uncivil war,” the 73-year-old Wallace turned to his Fox colleagues and likened it to all the other presidential speeches he’s witnessed over the years, including that of President John F. Kennedy in 1961.
200K flags placed on the National Mall
ahead of Biden inauguration to represent
missing crowd 47 replies
ahead of Biden inauguration to represent
missing crowd 47 replies
Nearly 200,000 flags have been placed on the National Mall ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, signifying the tens of thousands of people who won't be able to attend this year's ceremony. The Presidential Inaugural Committee first announced plans to install the public art display, which has flags representing all the U.S. states and territories, on Jan. 11. The display was lit up Sunday evening. (Tweet/Photos) “This inauguration marks a new chapter for the American people — one of healing, of unifying, of coming together, of an America united,” said Tony Allen, CEO of the Presidential Inaugural Committee.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday criticized President Biden for taking “several big steps in the wrong direction” on his first day in office, citing the Democrat’s moves to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and to kill the Keystone XL pipeline project. “This was not the Day One that American workers deserved,” the Kentucky Republican said on the Senate floor. “It’s still early. There’s still plenty of time for President Biden to remember that he does not owe his election to the far left.” Mr. McConnell, who is negotiating a power-sharing agreement with Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer in the 50-50 Senate,
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. became the 46th U.S. president on Wednesday, completing the most daunting power transfer in recent American history.
Inaugurated in a fortified Washington under the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, the 78-year-old Democrat took the oath of office at the U.S. Capitol in front of a sparse bipartisan crowd. He enters the White House exactly two weeks after a mob inflamed by his predecessor, Donald Trump, stormed the Capitol, disrupting the transition to Biden’s administration and leaving five people dead. Biden took the oath of office from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, with his left hand on a family Bible.
Biden, the oldest American president, faces swirling
The mainstream media believes that swapping out a 50-year old super model with a 69-year old lady is going to “bring fashion back” to the White House.Yes, really. Refinery29 published an article titled “Dr. Biden is bringing American fashion back into the White House starting with this subtle sparkly coat” Look below: (Tweet) As you can imagine, they immediately got BLASTED all over Twitter.“Our corporate media are so sick and sad and hateful that they will assert that the DEPARTURE of an actual fashion supermodel from the White House means the ARRIVAL, with the totally normally attired Jill Biden, of ***fashion*** to the White House,” said Mollie Hemingway.
If there has been one politician on these pages we have WARNED ABOUT over the years it is Senator Mitch McConnell. The Senate Majority Leader is the most conniving, cunning and Machiavellian member of the republican party.
With his positions solidifying CTH warnings for well over a decade, his actions over the past several weeks now highlight the dark background of his politics. Today, McConnell took the final stab at the people’s president as Donald Trump prepares to depart the White House. The bloom is off the ruse: (Video)The institution of the modern UniParty senate chamber requires a voter to understand the shell game.
Joe Biden’s White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki held her first press briefing a few hours after Biden was sworn into office and it’s all rainbows and unicorns. A brave reporter asked Psaki if Joe Biden will keep Trump’s Air Force One color scheme. “This is such a good question!” Psaki said smiling. “I have not had the opportunity to dig into that today…”Rather than ask questions about the investigation into Hunter Biden’s money laundering scheme and how Joe Biden turned his son into a bagman, the reporters ask about paint.
U2’s globalist frontman Bono gushed over President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris following their inauguration on Wednesday, calling it a “history making, history-shaping achievement.” He also took a veiled swipe at Donald Trump. [SNIP]
“As an Irishman, I’ve always believed America isn’t just a country, it’s an idea … one the whole world has a stake in. Lady Liberty’s been bruised and battered these past four years, but today her flame burns bright as we watch her torch transfer to two new leaders who will calm the waters, even while they chart a new course,” he wrote.
Antifa demonstrators smashed the windows of the Democratic Party headquarters in Portland, Oregon; burned American flags and spray-painted graffiti onto storefronts in Denver and Seattle; marched in Columbus, Ohio; and wielded shields and clubs while protesting in Sacramento hours after President Joe Biden's inauguration. A group of protesters carrying anti-Biden and anti-police signs were marching Wednesday in Portland streets and damaged the headquarters of the Democratic Party of Oregon, police said.
One of the signs read 'We don’t want Biden, we want revenge!' in response to 'police murders' and 'imperialist wars.' The group in Portland smashed windows and spray-painted anarchist symbols